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Laurie Reynolds
Laurie Reynolds

Laurie Reynolds

traveled in 9 countries Read more
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  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From IrúnLaurie Reynolds

    Made it to Irun!

    June 4, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Four flights, a few hours sleep on the plane, and a 20 minute walk into town from the airport. In a couple of hours, I was able to mail two boxes, get my Spanish phone card, buy some fruit, yoghurt and nuts, wash my clothes, shower, and check the route out of town for tomorrow.

    That left me just enough time (kitchens close at around 3:40 or 4:00 ) to get a bus to Hondarribia for my first ensalada mixta of this camino. Pretty, little, and very touristy Basque town.

    I had my first (but surely not my last) GPS freakout. One minute all my tracks were there, and the next minute they were gone. Not sure what happened, but turning it off and on again did the trick!

    I stopped off at the Albergue to get my credential stamped and got some info on our camino. Everyone else is walking the Norte, which also starts here, and which I walked with Dana in 2006 and alone in 2017. So it’s time for a new Camino.

    Cannot wait to sleep. Alun should arrive within an hour and I will be holding my eyes open with toothpicks by then!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From IrúnLaurie Reynolds

    Ready to go

    June 2, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Hard to believe, but my trusty, 19 year old Mountainsmith Ghost pack (used on all but my very first camino in 2000) is packed and ready to go. I will leave tomorrow on the 10 am flight, with connections in Chicago, Philadelphia, Madrid and then my final destination San Sebastián. The San Sebastián airport is actually in Irún, which is convenient, because Irún is my starting point.

    If all goes well, on June 4, I will meet up with Alun in Pensión Bowling, and off we will go on June 5.

    The walk this year is some new, some familiar. First the new — the Vasco Interior (hopefully, we will be able to take a couple of mountain alternatives), then the Olvidado from Aguilar de Campoo (I have walked this route, but not since new mountain alternatives have been marked), and then the Invierno from Ponferrada.

    I know I am lucky to be able to do this once again, and I hope I will be able to walk without injury. You never know. My body is pretty used to these Camino beatings, but I know things can happen, so I leave with fingers crossed!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    One last day in Lisbon

    May 14, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Up at 4:30, and the hotel was nice enough to give us coffee and some pastries. Our 7 am flight got into Lisbon right on time, and so we had one last day here. My big challenge for the day was distributing the weight and trying to pack the olive oil carefully, fingers crossed there are no broken bottles!

    Things have changed a lot in the ten days we were gone — temps are in mid-high 80s, the number of tourists has at least tripled, water is flowing in all the fountains, trees are flowering, and the beautiful Rossio train station has emerged from all of its scaffolding. We were going to have a fancy dinner, but I am so sick of eating in restaurants that I convinced Joe that we would be better off at our local neighborhood fresh-grilled-fish-for-12 € place.

    Home tomorrow!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Sunny Sunday in Angra

    May 12, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    I picked this hotel because of its fitness center but the view would have also been a perfect reason. This morning, reception helped make some more contacts about my iPad and depending on whom you speak to, it’s either already here at the airport or about to arrive late today. In any event, tomorrow we will rent a car to take a spin around the island, and the airport will be one of our early stops. Fingers crossed!!!

    We spent the day walking. Through the old town, up to a spectacular viewing spot, to the harbor, through beautiful municipal gardens, lunch in the best restaurant we’ve eaten in on the islands (we will be back), and then another climb up to the 15th century castle guarding the harbor. UNESCO’s designation as a world heritage site was spot on. It’s just really beautiful.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Today's adventure

    May 11, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    The flight was canceled yesterday, as we had expected. So we spent the night in a hotel on the waterfront. This morning, a bus brought us back to the airport. The winds are too bad for a plane to land, so we are moving on to Plan B (or is it C?).

    A bus took us back to the waterfront. We got on the ferry to the island of Faial, where the winds are better. The ride over was awful, lots of people throwing up.

    At the harbor, I followed the explicit instructions— there will be two buses. Get on the one for the airport. I asked, Driver said yes. We got on. Turns out it was the wrong bus, only going to the airport four hours later. Thankfully our now dear friend Pedro, who spoke excellent English, had also gotten on the wrong bus. A cab was sent straight away and we arrived at the airport as the plane was boarding. A 30 seat prop jet. BUMPY flight.

    But that’s not the end of the drama. I left my iPad charging in the Pico airport. Everyone wanted to help, passengers and crew. The iPad has been found and will either be sent to Terceira or back to Lisbon.

    As we got on the plane the other nine passengers applauded. The pilot had told them that the only reason the airlines had concocted this crazy scheme was because there were two Americans on the flight. Otherwise everyone would still be back on Pico waiting for the wind to die down. Crazy.

    Pedro helped me fill out the form for the lost iPad and then took us straight to our hotel. You can see view from the balcony of our room.

    Can’t believe we made it. Now to enjoy Angra do Heroísmo.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Travel day (or not)

    May 10, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Not much going on today except a visit to the wine museum and one last (we hope) walk along the lava beds on the coast. The wine museum explained how the people of the island brought soil over from a nearby island, cracked open the lava beds, and put soil in the cracks.

    Astonishingly (at least to me), the vines grew and have thrived. And the vineyrds themselves are a UNESCO world heritage site — rock walls built by hand hundreds of years ago making a huge number of tiny enclosures to protect the vines (which grow vertically on the soil so they sort of look like pumpkin vines). The wine museum says that if you took all the rock walls and extended them in one straight line, there would be enough to circle the equator twice. That’s a lot of backbreaking rock wall work!

    We got to the airport with quite a bit of trepidation because it is very very windy. As for now, our flight to Terceira Island is scheduled to go, but the ticket agent told us not to bet on it. And tomorrow and Sunday are supposed to have higher winds. If we can’t get off the island till Monday, we will probably just go straight to Lisbon and forget about the lovely isle of Terceira. Our flight leaves Lisbon on Wednesday. Maybe it was not such a smart idea to pre-pay our hotel. :-). But if we are stuck here on Pico, the airline will put us up, provide transportation, and feed us. That’s very nice, but I would really rather leave!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Whales!

    May 9, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Today we visited the north side of the island, just as beautiful as the south. We went to a second whaling museum, this one located in the old factory where the whale was turned into oil, vitamins, flour, and manure — all in one place. Post-industrial fabulous. The only parts of the whale that were not used were its heart and intestines. Those were rowed out to sea and dumped in the ocean, but they inevitably wound their way back to shore, bringing a huge stink with them.

    But the afternoon was for the real whales — we saw a bunch of sperm whales, whose tails flip up when they dive and it is beautiful. And the dolphins, must have been about 30 dolphins all leaping in unison. It was really something. And I now have an answer to the question — When was the last time you did something for the first time?

    I did not bother to try to catch fleeting glimpses of whales and porpoises with my phone camera. Much more enjoyable to just watch.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    No whale-watching today!

    May 8, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    We woke up to rain and wind, and no surprise, our whale-watching trip was cancelled. They re-booked us for tomorrow afternoon, fingers crossed. Staying with the whaling theme, we went to the whaling museum and saw a fascinating documentary. Pico was the last place on the planet where they still went out in a small boat with about 8 men to harpoon whales. The movie was filmed in 1970 and shows it all, start to bloody finish. Pretty amazing feat of courage, no matter what you think of the practice itself. The year harpooning stopped, about 1987, a German man opened up Pico’s first whale-watching business, employing many of the men who would no longer be hunting whales.

    The rest of the day alternated between foggy/windy/rainy and occasional bursts of sun. We got out and walked whenever we could, lots of empty country lanes near the ocean. Nothing but grape vines, bright green fields, and cows. All in all, not a bad day, finished off with a trip to the pretty basic fitness center.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Ferry to Faial

    May 7, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Days don’t get much better than this. Carpe diem!

    We took an 8 am ferry over to the island of Faial, a short 30 minute hop, where the sun shone all day and the views back over our island with its big volcano were amazing.

    We spent the day at two volcano sites, one recent (1958) (we could see orange roof tiles popping up from the ashes, a small whaling village was destroyed), and the other one hundreds of years ago with a huge green crater. And then just driving around, the island’s perimeter is only 50 km so we could deviate from the main circular road a lot. We have learned that whenever a sign points you towards a “miradouro” (scenic lookout), take the turn!

    And now here we sit out on our balcony with a glass of Douro wine, a view of the ocean, and listening to the waves crashing. Clouds are rolling in with a vengeance, so tomorrow might not be quite as perfect as today.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Loving Pico island

    May 6, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 16 °C

    So far, not much rain, and even one whole day of sun! We have walked and walked, along the coast and up high near the volcano. Today we took a long guided walk through a “lava tube”, formed about 1500 years ago when the volcano erupted and some of the lava pushed out sideways. Very different from your average cave. Joe was almost the oldest person to have ever walked through, but last year an 82-year old did it. It was a very difficult rocky path, no lights, slippery, but he made it!

    The vineyards are a UNESCO world heritage site. The vines are all in very small handmade rock enclosures, built hundreds of years ago. The vines grow right on the lava. I have never seen anything like it.

    In a little chapel to Our Lady of Compassion I lit a bunch of (electric) candles on the theory that we could all use a little compassion. Very nice place for some reflection.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    On the island of Pico

    May 4, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    By 10:30 am, we were in our rental car and driving around the island of Pico. Volcano in the middle and lava flows everywhere. Our hotel is amazing, Aldeia da Fonte. Five old village houses turned into a hotel “complex”. Right on the water, lots of walking paths.

    Weather was a little bit of everything-cloudy, rainy, and then spectacularly sunny.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Last day in Lisbon

    May 3, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Normal routine the last couple of days, different today in that instead of a post-gym café-and-plaza seeking expedition, it was a trip to the laundromat. Two loads to wash and dry was over 20 €, but five years ago these modern inventions were unknown in Portugal. So I am not complaining!!

    Tomorrow we leave on an early morning flight to Pico Island, where the weather forecast is for six days of rain. We’ve seen these kinds of forecasts in the Azores before, and I think/hope we’ll get some sun every now and then. Fingers crossed, goodbye Lisbon. We will be back on May 14 and leave for the US the next day.

    I’ve already reserved a reservation for our last night at a highly touted restaurant near our hotel where we have repeatedly failed to get reservations even a day or two in advance. Bistro4, here we come.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Plan C

    May 1, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Strikes, demonstrations, and a half marathon made our day a bit complicated but in the end we walked 20,000 steps, had a great ride on the Tram 28, and were able to enjoy many gorgeous “sitting stops” in plazas with great views. Back to work tomorrow.Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Metro, classes, gym, plazas, repeat

    April 30, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Our Lisbon life has settled into a routine. Up early, metro to class, metro home to fitness center in hotel, then a few hours in plazas around town.
    With a meal in a good restaurant to top it off

    Today I met with a wonderful friend who is now a justice on the Portuguese Supreme Court, and as always it was as if there had not been a year’s gap since I had seen her.

    Tomorrow, another national holiday, May 1, so our routine has been short-lived.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Romanesque church-going

    April 28, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Our main objective of the day was to visit three romanesque churches, scattered in little villages around the Douro Valley. It made for spectacular driving to out of the way places. I will say, though, that Portuguese romanesque is just not as beautiful as what I see all the time in Spain. Joe says he has had his fill for a while, can’t say I blame him, but he was a good trooper.

    When we wanted to head back to Lisbon, we were in the middle of nowhere and had to cross a pretty desolate part of the country to get to the highway. All’s well that ends well, back in Lisbon for the second week of classes.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Rivers and vineyards

    April 27, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Oh, wow, what a day. We made about a 75 km circle that took us up and down and around, to a neolithic hill fort in Sabrosa, to the Mateus estate (how can such a beautiful place produce such bad wine?! — maybe that’s unfair because maybe I have only had the really cheap rosé wine in the brown ceramic bottle that we used to burn candles in so they would drip all over the bottle. )

    The townspeople were making a carpet of flowers for tomorrow’s procession of the Virgen das Prazeres. They told us they had started at 7 am and would finish by 3 am. Mass at 7 sharp and then the procession to destroy their 20 hours of work.

    From there all through vineyards, down to the river and then back up again, each vista more gorgeous than the last. We ended with a trip up to the miradouro in Casal de Loivos, which I had remembered from previous trips.

    We will finish off the day with dinner in a fairly fancy place, DOC, right on the river about a 15 minute walk from our lovely Quinta da Azenha.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Up to the Douro Valley

    April 26, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    We always take a weekend trip during our two week Lisbon stay. We haven’t been to the Douro Valley in a few years, and it seemed like a great time of year, so here we are. Class was over at 12:30, we were at the airport by 2, in our rental car about an hour later.

    The drive was straightforward, except for the fact that I first went to the CASA da Azenha, instead of the QUINTA da Azenha. Luckily they are only 10 km apart! This is a centuries’ old renovated stone house up and looking right over the river. It is close to two good restaurants, so no driving for food is necessary. I am right now sitting on a terrace looking out at the scene you see in these pics. Joe is resting. I think it’s a no brainer who made the better decision!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    National holiday, April 25

    April 26, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    The day of the Carnation Revolution, 45 years ago. Not a shot was fired. The army officers, tired of fascism, I guess, went into the president and prime minister’s offices and said, it’s time to go. We don’t want to hurt you, so get in this tank and we will take you to the airport so you can go to Brazil. Yesterday we saw those tanks being driven on their historical route, pretty cool.

    We spent the day with good Portuguese friends, two economists Joe has known for years. First to eat baby goat, I guess cabrito translates as kid. The restaurant, about 20 km out of Lisbon, was mobbed, and everyone was eating the same thing.

    Then a trip to the Universidade Nova’s new building about 20 km outside of Lisbon, on the river. Pretty astonishing, They even have their own private tunnel under the road to get to the beach, and conveniently the sheds for all their aquatic sports (ocean sports to the right, river sports to the left) are right there.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Gulbenkian Museum and Olive Oil

    April 24, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Second day of classes and tomorrow is another holiday. I met Joe at the Gulbenkian Museum after class- an obligatory stop every year.

    Then a quick trip to the Corte Inglés supermarket where I got another 8 liters of oil. According to the weight of my bags when I came over, I can bring back more than 100 pounds of oil, but that would be excessive. :-)

    We made it home before the rain and we’re lucky that it had stopped before a delicious dinner at a new recommended place, Quermesse. It’s in the Praça Alegria (Happy Square) but the last time I visited years ago nothing legal was going on. Tourists must be pushing out the drug trade.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Payback time -- time to teach

    April 23, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    First day of Introduction to US Property Law. 38 students, a mix of Portuguese, other Europeans, and a group from Macao (former colony, which is still governed by the19th century Portuguese Civil Code). I always enjoy teaching here because the students are undergrads unlike US law students—which makes them less jaded and more “innocent.”

    Though a cab to the school from our hotel would be under 10 € and take 1/3 the time, I just can’t bring myself to abandon the lovely Lisbon metro. It’s a great sociological observation— so many different people, all going somewhere.

    After a few torrential downpours, all of which I missed while in class, the sun came out in late afternoon, and we took a walk through another favorite part of downtown.

    Last night we had a traditional Portuguese meal ( not fish— no Lisboeta eats fish on Monday because fish markets are closed on Saturday and Sunday, so it can’t be fresh). Tonight we went for Indian—Tamarind Restaurant near our hotel — Excellent!!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Breakfast, gym, and a long walk

    April 22, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Lisbon sits on many hills, so there are lots of “miradouros” (scenic look-out plazas is my awkward translation). We decided to head for two located on hills near the castle— these are not the most popular but the views are great—Nossa Senhora da Monte and Graca. Lunch in a little pastelaria where we sat outside in old Lisbon and had a homemade lunch for 9 € for the two of us!

    Back to the hotel for a total of 19,752 steps according to my phone. While Joe rested, I went on my first oil-scouting expedition. Making good headway!

    Tomorrow it’s down to work for two days. Then Thursday is The national holiday commemorating the Carnation Revolution-saying goodbye to fascism without firing a shot.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Arrived

    April 21, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    We’re staying in the central historic area, quite a change from the Marriott. Beautiful weather, lots of tourists, lots of great fish restaurants to choose from.

  • Laurie ReynoldsBack to Lisbon, 2019Laurie Reynolds

    Travel Day

    April 20, 2019 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 3 °C

    It’s usually not much fun to get from Point A to Point B, especially not if the people who booked your ticket give you a 6 hour layover in Philadelphia! For these long travel days, I always try to get up very early to get to the gym, on the theory that I will feel better and maybe sleep a bit on the plane. So today at 5 am I was up and out. My Silver Sneakers gym is open 24/7 with a little purple thing to swipe, and there are always a few more nut cases like me there so it’s not too lonely.

    We are headed to Lisbon — unbelievable though it seems to me, this will be the sixteenth consecutive year I have taught a short course at the law school in the Católica. Cannot believe it!

    At the airport I weighed my bags to calculate how much olive oil I can cram in them on the way home. One of my favorite pastimes in Lisbon is buying lots of olive oil for my Berkeley crew, who has figured out that they use about 36 liters a year. I have been keeping up with that demand for about 6 years now and hope to extend it for a few more, at least till I am too feeble to lug all this around. Oil is lighter than water, though!

    We arrived in PHL and made our way over to the Lego Liberty Bell and thus began our long layover. Only 5 hours till boarding time now! We will go straight to Lisbon, arriving around 9 am tomorrow morning. Easter Sunday, so it should be a slow day.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsGirfriends’ trip to San JuanLaurie Reynolds

    Heading home

    April 16, 2019 in Puerto Rico ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    After a three hour four course tasting menu last night at Marmalade we made it back to our Inn (Old San Juan is beautiful at night.) and wound up gabbing till 2. Way too late.

    Marmalade had an after dinner drink named I’m peach mint. Tag line after the description—order a second one and I’ll get México to pay for it. 😄

    No need for breakfast this morning but we took a walk for coffee and grandkid t-shirts. Now we’re at the airport, saying goodbye— till next years GTG.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsGirfriends’ trip to San JuanLaurie Reynolds

    Enjoying Old San Juan

    April 15, 2019 in Puerto Rico ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We woke up this morning with no idea of what we were going to do. Breakfast first, in a great outdoor cafe. Then a couple of hours circling the governmental capital. Beautiful capitol building, statues of every U.S president who has visited. So far Trump’s statue has not been erected, but we think he should be represented with a roll of paper towels in his hand.

    We hopped in a cab and went to the closed Puerto Rican Museum of Art. But it has lovely gardens, and we got to see the weekly iguana hunt. The guards told us that the have between 30 and 80 babies per year and eat everything in sight. Saw a Botero statue and sat on benches in the shade gabbing away.

    Tonight we have a fancy dinner in a restaurant called Marmalade, and then tomorrow we head home. Old San Juan is a great place for a short break. Lots of walking, beautiful views, and great food.    Read more

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